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In 2014, I interviewed Amanda Foody about her successful query. Three years later and her debut DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY is about to come out. I thought it was time to have another chat with her – this time about her writing process and her upcoming books. I hope you’ll enjoy this interview!

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My interview (10th July 2017)

Credit to Steph Faucher Photography

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer? When/How did you decide to be a writer?

I wanted to be a writer since I started reading. My earliest stories are from when I was five years old, and I have so many memories of spending hours alone as a child, typing away on my parents’ old box computers in the “computer room,” starting book after book (but rarely finishing them). Even though I often had other aspirations, usually in the business or STEM fields, I always wanted to write as well. In high school, I decided to stop waiting to “be a grown-up” and to start pursuing it professionally then. I learned a lot very quickly, and I regret nothing!

Are you a full-time writer? When and where do you write?

I am not. I am a tax accountant by day, living a double life between the two sides of my brain. I typically write in the evening when I get home from work, or on the weekends. I do a lot of writing in bed.

What do you say to writers who want to be traditionally published one day?

Read as much as you can about the craft of writing! Craft books were my greatest teachers, and I still refer back to them whenever I can. They are truly invaluable, and often overlooked.

To write DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY, where did you get your inspiration from?

In the midst of drafting it, I read THE NIGHT CIRCUS for the first time and loved what Erin Morganstern did with her world-building and tone. I also read a lot of Agatha Christie as a kid, so I reflected a lot on classic mystery plots and how I could convert that to a fully fantastical story.

The story takes place in a travelling circus. What kind of research did you do for it?

Not too much, really. I definitely had to do some thinking on the mechanics of the city and how it moves and feeds itself and functions, but I tend to shy away from research and draw a lot from my own imagination, particular for this book. Most of my research was for extraneous things, like on bugs for Sorina’s bug collection, or poisons for Luca’s poison collection (My characters have some weird interests).

Thank you! They asked what sort of cover I had in mind, and then when in a totally different direction. I love the final product, though. It’s very eye-catching and unique. They did a great job unifying the title, cover, and tagline into a single aesthetic.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on my second book, ACE OF SHADES. DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY is a stand-alone, and ACE is the first in a YA fantasy series. I’m currently deep into the editorial work, somewhere between intensive revisions and line edits, and I’m uber excited for how the story is turning out. I started this project when I was seventeen, and I honestly feel that this book taught me how to write. I’m so proud of how far it’s come.

A little about the project: it releases on April 24, 2018. We call it SIX OF CROWS meets SPIRITED AWAY. It takes place in the City of Sin, known for its reckless gambling culture, scandalous cabarets, and extensive criminal underworld. Enne Salta comes from a world of etiquette, pirouettes, and doilies–exactly the opposite of the City of Sin–but she journeys there anyway in order to find her mother, who’s gone missing there…and could potentially be dead. She teams up with Levi Glaisyer, a famous card dealer and con man, who’s gotten himself into some hot water for running an illegal investment scam. The two uncover some sinister secrets about Enne’s mother and must face a number of terrible enemies in the city, who thrust them into a perilous game for their lives. It’s got all my favorite things: ruthless villains, an endearing yet cutthroat group cast, and sexy thrills! 😉

What are your favourite books this year?

So many! Just to list: STRANGE THE DREAMER by Laini Taylor; WARCROSS by Marie Lu; MASK OF SHADOWS by Linsey Miller; and UPROOTED by Naomi Novik.

I had the pleasure of interviewing YA author Mackenzi Leein June 2015, a couple of months before her YA Historical Fantasy debut THIS MONSTROUS THING came out. Eighteen months later, and Mackenzi is now an established author, with two books coming out in 2017-2018. I thought it was time to have another chat with her… Hope you enjoy!

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My interview (9th January 2017)

THIS MONSTROUS THING came out a little over a year ago. What were the highlights of your debut year? Anything you’d do differently?

I’d sort of do everything and nothing differently–in the same way I’d do everything and nothing differently if I could live my life again. So much of what I know at the end of my debut year is because I made mistakes and learned things the hard way, but those mistakes are the reason I now know things.

Don’t think about it too hard.

But there were so many highlights, and I keep thinking about those highlights whenever I’m down or stuck or things feel like I don’t know how to author. Like getting to hold my book for the first time, or the reader who asked me to write a note to Mary Shelley in her copy of Frankenstein, or the reader who showed up to an event with a copy of TMT that she had color coded, or getting an envelope full of mail from an eighth grade class who read the book, or the twin girls who chose to come to one of my events and buy my book for their birthday present, or my childhood librarian sending me a picture of my book on the library shelf, or the guy sitting next to me on a red eye flight buying my book on his Kindle right in front of me.

I think the thing I would do differently would be to try and focus more on these moments, and not the lists I’m not on or the stars I don’t get or the festivals I’m not invited to. But I’m a neurotic writer, so that’s easier said than done. Focusing on the good moments is a lifelong battle.

Now that you’re published, what would you say has changed in your writing life?

Right before I sold THIS MONSTROUS THING, a grad school mentor told me to enjoy this time before I was published because it was the last time I could write for myself. I thought at the time that was so stupid–publishing is the end game! What’s there to enjoy about not being published?!

Now I understand what she meant, because once you’re published, there’s a lot more to consider every time I make a decision about my writing. I feel like editors and agents and reviewers and readers have all become my internal voice. As a result, the first thing I tried to write after TMT was a disaster because I was so caught up in how backward the process felt when I already had agent/editor/publishing house attached to the book, as well as reader expectations.

But then I wrote Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, as a project that started just for me, that I never intended to let anyone read. Publishing has definitely changed my writing, but I’m trying not to let it change that I want to always be working on things I love and am proud of.

You have a much anticipated book coming out in 2017, THE GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO VICE AND VIRTUE. Can you tell us a little bit about your inspiration for this story?

I first learned about the concept of the eighteenth century Grand Tour (a sort of gap year young noblemen took in the 1700s between finishing school and waiting to take over their family estate) years ago, when I was a TA for a humanities class in college. It was the sort of thing I shelved in my brain as “something to write about someday.”

I really love playing with tropes and genre conventions in my books–TMT is very much my self-aware Gothic novel. I don’t know when exactly I had the idea to write the same sort of tropey adventure novel set during a grand tour, or what prompted it, but I remember deciding early on that I wanted to write an adventure novel populated with the sort of people who have traditionally been left out of these sort of narratives—both historical and adventure novely. So my lead trio of my very traditional historical adventure novel interact in various ways with sexuality, race, chronic illness, and gender in ways that adventure novel protags usually don’t.

What type of research did you have to do for this book? Did you go on a Grand Tour of Europe yourself?!

I went on a Grand Tour-ish?

When I was in college, I did a year abroad in England, during which I took my own Grand Tour over the course of the weekends and school holidays, so it was a long, drawn out, sporadic tour. But I did get to visit all the places Monty and Percy go to in the book, and I definitely drew on my memories when I wrote. And I also definitely plotted the book around my favorite cities in Europe. The “road map” of the book was one of the first things I figured out, even before I had a plot.

My favorite research I did for this book was reading the journals and letters of real 18th century grand tourists, both because they were populated by so many colorful interesting details about a daily reality that felt almost otherworldly to me because of how different it was from mine, but also feelings and thoughts and anxieties that I related deeply to. A lot of these grand tourists from the 1700s—men around the same age as me—shared so many thoughts that I do. It was amazing, and definitely shaped how I thought about my novel.

Can you talk a little bit about SEMPER AUGUSTUS, which will come out in 2018?

Oh my yes! This is not a book I am well practiced in talking about yet!

SEMPER AUGUSTUS started from a place of me wanting to dissect my least favorite trope—the girls dressing as boys in historical fiction. But of course it ended up being a lot of other things too—a book about religion and family and first love and community and ambition and loyalty.

It’s set in 1637, during the Dutch Tulipomania which is this very odd pocket of Dutch history where an economic bubble sprung up around tulip bulbs, until, at the peak, single tulip bulbs were being sold and traded multiple times a day, sometimes for the price of a canal house in Amsterdam. Basically 17th century Beanie Babies. SEMPER AUGUSTUS is set during the height of the mania, and is about two siblings trying to pull off a con to sell a tulip bulb for way more than its worth. My family is Dutch, so I have a lot of personal ties to the cultural landscape of the story, as well as the conflict between religion, community, and self.

I’m so excited for everyone to read it. But one book at a time.

Finally, do you have any reading recommendations? Recent reads that stood out?

I literally always have reading recommendations. Some recent reads that floored me:

My current obsession is Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery, a nonfiction book about octopuses and animal consciousness and emotion. I could have not have given less of a shit about octopuses before this book, and now I am OBSESSED with them. Not only are they basically the most fascinating creatures on the planet, but Sy writes about them with such elegance. I found this book utterly and unexpectedly riveting.

Also I’m late to the game with Landline by Rainbow Rowell but that book had me inconsolable on a plane. Rainbow is a freaking wizard with words–if I could write sentences half as good as she can, I could die happy. That book made me feel all the things–the most emotionally real and honest novel I’ve encountered in a long time.

Lastly, The Fair Fight by Anna Freeman, a fabulously accessible and high-stakes historical fiction novel about lady bare knuckle boxers in Georgian England. I mean….what’s not to love in that premise alone?

You may recall THE SECRET OF A HEART NOTE by Stacey Lee was featured in one of my Waiting On Wednesday posts a few months back. Since then, I’ve been able to read an ARC of this book and I’m delighted to report it was as good as I hoped. It comes out on 27th December and I strongly suggest you preorder it!

And today I’m pleased to welcome Stacey again on this blog for an interview. Hope you enjoy!

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My interview (3rd December 2016)

Your first two books were Historical novels, but THE SECRET OF A HEART NOTE is a Contemporary novel. Was the genre switch intentional? Or did you just write the story you wanted at the time?

Definitely not intentional! I wrote about something that I love — scents! And the story that came out was set in modern day, though there is definitely an overlay of ‘history.’ Mim comes from a long lineage of aromateurs descended from the Queen of Sheba, and one of the things she struggles with is balancing the life of ordinary teen with the burden of being the last aromateur left in the world. I’m not sure it fits neatly into one category or another so I just like to call it ‘contemporary with a hint of magic.’

Mim is an Aromateur. Can you explain how you came up with this amazing and unique concept?

Natural perfumery, the art of combining real botanicals (as opposed to lab created) into harmonious combinations is a passion of mine. Plants are complex, sentient ‘beings,’ each with their own history and use profile. Using plants for love potions is not a new idea, but I wanted to bring a modern, almost scientific sensibility to this practice.

What type of research did you have to do for this story?

In addition to smelling hundreds of plants, I visited several gardens of ‘ancients,’ including plants that have been around since the Ice Age. I spent a bit of time at Strybing Botanical Garden in the San Francisco Golden Gate Park, which is where a key scene takes place, as well as Point Lobos, near Monterey, California, the sight of the surfing scene.

My favorite scene in the book is when Mim goes “surfing” with Court. Is surfing one of your hobbies too?

Surfing was on my bucket list. I finally checked it off two summers ago in Hawaii. Everything was going well, until I wiped out, and the board glanced off my forehead, leaving me with a big bump and a black eye. So, I guess won’t be doing that again!

Can you talk about what you’re working on right now?

I’m working on my third historical, DEAR MISS SWEETIE, about a Chinese girl in 1890 Atlanta who becomes the pseudonymous author of a wildly popular advice column, and who attempts to use her power of the pen to change the course of a trial of a black man accused of assaulting a white woman.

Finally, do you have any reading recommendations? Recent reads that stood out?

I loved Traci Chee’s THE READER, as well as Roshani Chokshi’s THE STAR TOUCHED QUEEN. For an unusual sci-fi, I also enjoyed Parker Peevyhouse’s WHERE FUTURES END. Currently, I’m reading Padma Venkatraman’s CLIMBING THE STAIRS, and it’s wonderful.

I’m very pleased to share another interview with a YA author today! The wonderfully kind and talented Kat Ellis, whose debut BLACKFIN SKY came out in 2014, hasn’t got one but TWO books being released this year!

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My interview (7th February 2016)

BLACKFIN SKY came out in 2014. What were the highlights of your debut year? Anything you’d do differently?

There were so many amazing firsts during my debut year – my first author panel, first book launch, first sighting of BLACKFIN SKY out in the wild – and it really was an overwhelming and incredible experience. I think the best feeling overall was hearing a pair of teen girls whispering about how much they loved the characters (*cough* Sean, the love interest, might have been mentioned in particular). I’ve felt that way about characters in books I’ve read, and it was so wonderful seeing it from the other side.

As far as things I’d do differently… I did a lot of events, school visits, interviews, etc. but I felt like I should have done more, got out there more and shouted about my book to more people. Maybe that’s just my own inner critic at work, though, because I always feel I could do more, about everything. Especially housework.

Now that you’re a published author, what would you say has changed in your writing life?

The major thing has been changing how I view writing itself; I went from viewing it as a hobby to seeing it as my job. I felt like a fraud at first, telling people I was working on my book when they wanted me to go shopping or to a party or something. They’d look at me as though I’d just said I was busy playing with my Barbie dolls. But it takes a lot of hours to write a book, so I have to be strict with myself if I want to keep writing one or two books a year.

You have two books coming out in 2016, BREAKER and PURGE, can you tell us a little bit about your inspiration for those stories?

BREAKER comes out in May, and tells the story of Kyle, whose father has recently been executed for a string of brutal murders, and Naomi, whose mother was the Bonebreaker’s last victim. When Kyle moves to a new school and sees Naomi, his hope for a fresh start is thrown under the bus. Except she doesn’t recognise him, and as much as Kyle wants to pretend Naomi doesn’t exist, he can’t deny the spark between them. But someone isn’t prepared to let the past die, and when bodies start piling up on campus, it seems the Bonebreaker’s legacy is very much alive.

The inspiration came from thinking about how violence leaves scars beyond the obvious ones you see — beyond the victim of the serial killer. Naomi and Kyle wear their scars differently, but their lives are shaped by them, and I wanted to explore how two people might find one bright, shining, happy thing in the wake of something so terrible. And because I’m a sadist, apparently, I then decided to inflict yet more trauma on them by unleashing a new killer. As you do.

PURGE will be out this autumn, and is a YA sci-fi set on a flooded Earth where the last survivors live in sealed, floating communities. Mason is 17, and already has a rap sheet too long to remember. So he isn’t exactly high on the list to be allowed into any community — which is how he ends up at Alteria, living among a cult-like group who purge negative behaviour through a mind-altering virtual reality programme. Mason knows he has to stay on the straight-and-narrow, but that’s not easy when he falls for a girl who has a few bad habits of her own. When she’s caught with drugs and thrown into the programme, Mason risks everything to go in after her, not knowing if either of them will ever be the same.

In PURGE, I wanted to write about someone who at a young age has already been judged as worthless by society, and show how he could defy expectations to become a hero. This book has been several years in the making, and Mason is probably my favourite character I’ve written to date. I hope readers like him, too!

Can you talk about what you’re working on right now?

Well, right now I’m dabbling with a few projects — there’s a fantasy about a boy raised in a rainforest, a magical realist story about a girl who has out of body experiences, and a thriller set in a 1920s theme town. Aside from those, I’m working on a few things for the launch of BREAKER, and editing PURGE.

Finally, do you have any reading recommendations? Recent reads that stood out?

So many! Some of my recent favourites are Bryony Pearce’s WINDRUNNER’S DAUGHTER, THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE by Jonathan Stroud, THE ACCIDENT SEASON by Moira Fowley-Doyle, and Cat Clarke’s THE LOST AND THE FOUND. I’m looking forward to reading Alwyn Hamilton’s REBEL OF THE SANDS, Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock’s THE SMELL OF OTHER PEOPLE’S HOUSES, Tatum Flynn’s HELL’S BELLES, and I’ve also just got my hands on an early copy of Martin J Stewart’s RIVERKEEP, which comes out in April.

I’m very excited to share another interview with a YA author today! Meet Stacey Lee, author of the fantastic YA Historical UNDER A PAINTED SKY. Stacey mentored me in a writing contest almost three years ago, and since then I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her in person in Los Angeles last year. She’s a very talented writer and a wonderful person all around, and I’m delighted to share her words of wisdom with you!

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My interview (2d February 2016)

UNDER A PAINTED SKY came out almost a year ago. What were the highlights of your debut year? Anything you’d do differently?

It sounds so cliché, but the highlights were really the people I met on the journey. The writers, the librarians, the teachers, the bloggers, publishing personnel. Even as in introvert, it was a pleasure to connect with so many people (like you!). There’s a lot of pressure on debuts to say ‘yes’ to everything, but I quickly learned what my limits were after coughing my lungs out into a plant at LAX. It’s easy to get sick if you overextend yourself.

Now that you’re a published author, what would you say has changed in your writing life?

There’s definitely more pressure to ‘produce,’ though part of that is self-imposed. I’m trying to work on being more focused on my work when I have writing time. No futzing around.

You have two books coming out in 2016, OUTRUN THE MOON and CATCH A FALLING HEART, can you tell us a little bit about your inspiration for those stories?

OUTRUN THE MOON was inspired by my mom, a native San Franciscan whose father was born in 1906, the year of the San Francisco earthquake. As a fourth generation Californian, earthquakes are in the blood.

CATCH A FALLING HEART (working title), was inspired by my nose, really. It’s about a teenaged perfumer wit an extraordinary nose who accidentally fixes the wrong woman with a love potion, and races to undo her mistake before her mother finds out. I have a kind of synesthesia that allows me to ‘hear’ musical pitches when I smell. Natural perfumery using plant based oils has interested me for years, and I run an Etsy shop called Mermaid Perfumes as a hobby.

Your first two books were Historical novels, but CATCH A FALLING HEART is a Contemporary Fantasy novel, what made you want to switch genre? How difficult was it to do so?

It wasn’t difficult. For me, affecting the right historical ‘voice’ is definitely more challenging than that of the modern day teen. I have been writing across genres all my life, and it’s always the story that hooks me, rather than the time period (both as reader and writer).

Can you talk about what you’re working on right now?

A short story for an upcoming anthology which hasn’t been announced, so I won’t say more yet. But I’m very excited about it!

Finally, do you have any reading recommendations?

I just read a trio of forthcoming contemporaries: Charlotte Huang’s GOING GEEK, Lauren Gibaldi’s AUTOFOCUS, and Kathryn Holmes’ HOW IT FEELS TO FLY, and all three were so good and feels-y. I also listened to the audiobook of ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE by Benjamin Alire Sienna, an important, emotional story of two gay teens.

Thanks so much for the interview, Stacey!

Thanks for having me, Eve!

You can buy UNDER A PAINTED SKY here and add OUTRUN THE MOON on Goodreads here.

I’m delighted to share with you another interview with a YA author today! Meet Alwyn Hamilton, whose YA Fantasy debut REBEL OF THE SANDS will come out on 4th February 2016 in the UK and on 8th March 2016 in the US.

Alwyn Hamilton was born in Toronto and spent her childhood bouncing between Europe and Canada until her parents settled in France. She grew up in a small town there, which might have compelled her to burst randomly into the opening song from Beauty and the Beast were it not for her total tone-deafness. She instead attempted to read and write her way to new places and developed a weakness for fantasy and cross-dressing heroines. She left France for Cambridge University to study History of Art at King’s College, and then to London where she became indentured to an auction house. She has a bad habit of acquiring more hardcovers than is smart for someone who moves house quite so often.

My interview (8th November 2015)

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer? When/How did you decide to be a writer?

I pretty much did, yeah. I don’t remember ever not knowing that’s what I wanted to do at least. Somewhere my parents still have the story I wrote when I was about 5 or 6, called “The Tangle Monster” about a monster who would tangle a little girls’ hair (I had a lot of hair and I hated having it brushed). My mother typed it for me and I illustrated it.

And then later on, well, the French School system which I was educated in, as you probably know, is very career driven. I don’t know if you had to do this but when I was about 11 we were meant to submit a project detailing what future career we wanted, and including research about what Bac we would chose, and what graduate degrees we’d have to do. I didn’t do that. Instead I submitted a single sheet of paper on which I had written “I want to grow up to be a writer. I will do an English Degree to achieve that.” And turned that in. I did an Art History Degree instead of English, but the rest I did manage.

Are you a full-time writer? When and where do you write?

I am gradually moving towards being a full time writer. When I wrote REBEL OF THE SANDS, I was very much working full time, 10 or 11 hour days, Monday to Sunday sometimes. I was thankfully able to cut down to working 3 days a week this past summer. My writing habits haven’t changed very much though. I write in cafes near my house on weekends/my days off, from about 10 a.m until 5 p.m, preferably cafés without internet and fuel myself on coffees, with headphones in and 1 song on perpetual repeat.

But I’ll be leaving my day job entirely at the end of 2015 to write full time. Or at least be a full time author, I’m finding out that even with the best of intentions, the closer I get to book publication (and with the book being out in Italy) the more things spring up that are book related, but aren’t writing from the fun ones like getting to do interviews to the less fun ones like having to figure out your accounts.

What do you say to writers who want to be traditionally published one day?

I wish I had something groundbreaking and original to say, but I don’t. I think there’s already a lot of great publishing advice out there but the ones that stand out for me are, keep going, perseverance will get you a long way and don’t compare your journey to anyone else’s.

Oh, and if you’re a younger writer, don’t listen to your parents. And I don’t mean that in a negative way or in a ‘ignore their urging to get a job and just follow your dreams’ (personally I think writers should have another job first, and I think everyone should have to do some crappy jobs in life, but I digress…) That goes whether they are discouraging you (ignore all discouragers as a rule) or encouraging you because chances are if you are serious about being a published writer you have done your research and you know more than they do. (Most) Parents will want to help but (unless they work in publishing) you probably know more than them for once. And regardless you have your own idea of what your publishing path looks like and what you want to spend your energies on and you shouldn’t stray from that path because of someone else’s idea of what it should look like.

To write REBEL OF THE SANDS, where did you get your inspiration from?

Originally I wanted to write a Western. Except I didn’t really want to write a Western. I just knew that there was a girl who went by the Blue-Eyed Bandit and that she was on an adventure in the desert with a stranger and that looked a lot like a western to me. But I didn’t actually want to write a Historical. I had this niggling notion that it could be a Western and something, I just didn’t know what that something was. I was wracking my brain for ages about and then it hit me in the middle of the night to combine it with the 1001 Nights.

I was working in an Islamic Art Department at an auction house at the time, which probably helped. It seemed like it was possibly either a perfect idea or an idiotic one, which is always possible in the middle of the night. I spent the next hour lying away, thinking of all of the elements that connected the two: the desert setting, outlaws and bandits, societies with a strong religious base and so on, until I had essentially talked myself into it doing it. And that meant I got to bring in a lot of great things from both, train robberies and shooting contests from the wild west, and magical doors and a Djinn from the Arabian Nights.

Your book combines an Arab-inspired setting with Wester-like guns, what kind of research did you do for this?

I grabbed quite a few research books about things like the history of Persia and about the mythology surrounding the Djinn. And a few about the Wild West, and one about clothing through the ages, and one about weapons which are both great illustrated reference books when I need to check something specific. But mainly I read a lot of Middle Eastern folk tales. I found that I was more likely to stick with books that had a narrative and you glean a lot of details about regular life just by what is naturally included in these folktales. I found these really helpful because I wasn’t necessarily trying to mirror any specific country or ruler, but more get a general feel of the stories that were told in these cultures and create something that might fit inside one of these (in sort of the same way that Cinderella is very French without being specifically about France…depending on whether you watch Ever After or not I guess). I also read a few travel books about westerners living with desert nomads, or visiting middle eastern cities, (Waterstone’s Piccadilly very helpful lays out all their Eland travel books on one table on the ground floor to tempt me every time I go in).

Both your US and UK covers are gorgeous, did your publishers ask for your input while designing them?

Thanks! They did a great job, and I can’t wait for people to see the finished copies in the flesh (in the paper?) the pictures don’t do them justice! And they are actually now the same cover as the one that Faber designed for the UK is being used for both English versions. I saw a really really early draft this cover way back in January my agent and I gave our thoughts then. And then saw both the UK and US ones before they were officially out in the world. They were both gorgeous and the only comments I had were tiny things.

What are you working on now?

Book 2! The as of yet unnamed sequel to REBEL OF THE SANDS (Currently entitled Rebel 2: This Time It’s Palatial), which is the 2nd in a planned trilogy and is the first time I’ve ever written a whole book to deadline which is a new experience.

What are your favourite books? Any books you’d recommend?

…How much time do you have?

I don’t think I have loved a book as much as Marie Rutkoski’s THE WINNER’S CURSE in a long time. It was one of those I started at about 9 p.m, thinking “I’ll read one chapter before bed” and then next thing I knew it was 4 a.m and I was an emotionally distraught mess in a tangle of sheets as I finished the last chapter. So if you too would like all your coworkers to ask you why you look so tired while your tired brain tries to come up with a lie so you don’t have to just admit “I’ve had 3 hours of sleep because Kestrel and Arin tore my heart out” I’d recommend that.

I also love loved VIVIAN VS THE APOCALYPSE by Katie Coyle and THE STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL SORROWS OF AVA LAVENDER by Lesley Walton. Those have stayed with me and I recommend them any chance I get.

In YA series old and new there’s Ally Carter’s HEIST SOCIETY series, Leigh Bardugo’s GRISHA trilogy, Rae Carson’s THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS series, Tamora Pierce’s ALANNA, Robin McKinley’s THE HERO AND THE CROWN…

Marieke Nijkamp is a storyteller, dreamer, globe-trotter, geek. She holds degrees in philosophy, history, and medieval studies, and is an executive member of We Need Diverse Books, the founder of DiversifYA, and a founding contributor to YA Misfits.

My interview (20th September 2015)

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer? When/How did you decide to be a writer?

I always knew I wanted to be a writer. I can’t remember I time I wasn’t telling stories or didn’t let my imagination run wild. For me, stories are my outlet and the way I understand the world. So going from there to sharing those stories always felt like a small step to me, although it’s an honor to be able to do that.

Are you a full-time writer? When and where do you write?

I’m a part-time writer. I usually write during the evenings and the weekends. Though that doesn’t mean I’m also a part-time storyteller. I am constantly thinking of stories, questioning the world, stealing shiny observations. Writers really are magpies and some days, that’s the part I love best about this job. The way it allows me to always wonder about the story behind the story.

What do you say to writers who want to be traditionally published one day?

Persevere and believe in YOUR stories. There are many writers out there, but no one who can tell your stories. You are unique. Your voice matters. And if you keep speaking up and if you keep telling stories and if you keep improving, you will be heard.

To write THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS, where did you get the idea from and when did you start writing it?

There wasn’t any particular school shooting that inspired TIWIE. The idea came from a conversation with a friend about school safety. But it was on the heels of several high profile shootings that I started it, mostly out of a deep longing to understand not only the situation but especially the human aspect of it. I wanted to understand the people and the stories, rather than the event itself.

What are you working on now?

Several stories, as a matter of fact! There’s one I’m drafting, that deals with friendship, grief, and never-ending nights. There’s one I’m revising, that’s about war and family and the deepest betrayals. And there’s always a few that are whispering at me, teasing me with their possibilities.

What are your favourite books? Any books you’d recommend?

Oh my goodness, how I hate this question! 🙂 I will focus on recommending instead of playing favorites, because it’s simply easier. So in no particular order, here are five 2016 books I loved recently that ought to be on everyone’s TBR:

– Jeff Zentner’s THE SERPENT KING has such an utterly beautiful voice. It’s impossible to put this book down once you started reading. It’s a stunning exploration of family and identity.

– Renee Ahdieh’s THE ROSE AND THE DAGGER which enthralled me as much as THE WRATH AND THE DAWN did. Spending more time with these characters was such a gift, and oh how I love the world Renee built. I would love to visit… if only so I could eat all the food!

– Traci Chee’s THE READER is a collection of everything I love in fantasy. Books. Pirates. Feisty FMCs. And a deep, deep understanding of how stories influence the way we live in and see the world. It’s a wonderful debut.

– Parker Peevyhouse’s WHERE FUTURES END which is a remarkable work of innovative storytelling. This is one of those books you have to experience.

– Brooks Benjamin’s MY SEVENTH GRADE LIFE IN TIGHTS, finally, is also a book you need to experience, because it will brighten up your world. It’s fun, it’s affirming, it’s happiness in book form.